Lore & Legends
by Moonraker One
Summary: FF5J Gathering the power of the crystals, Butz, Faris, Lenna and Cara defeated Exdeath. Now, five years later, an Order of Darkness wants the most powerful artifact in existence. COMPLETED.
1. Chapter One

Lore and Legends

By Moonraker One

Chapter One

                Life is such a funny thing.

                Exdeath was long dead, the villains that served under him had all been wearily defeated, and time had passed about five years since the return of the crystals. Walking underneath the calm fires of the high sun, Butz couldn't help but recall the times that he had with the other four members of his crew. Well, technically, they weren't his crew, but a group of four that happened to journey with him. Despite the fact that he was the one who led them into battle, they never considered anyone to be a true leader to the quartet. The wind seemed to empathize with him as he brought to mind Lenna and her sister Faris, who stayed by his side all the way across the galaxy and back again. His heart brought him towards beautiful women like Faris, and at times it even made the trek a bit lighter. Love blossomed for him, although he outright denied it to anyone who'd ask him.

                "Are you okay, Butz?" asked the young squirt at his side. What a memory; a girl that he used to be picked on by way back when he was just a kid died of a heart attack three months after Exdeath's demise at only thirty years of age. The boy, as fate would have it, had no one to turn to except this young adventurer who knew almost nothing of raising an eight-year old. Although it would seem the kid was a minor hindrance as they ventured through the woods, he somehow knew how to hold his own in a sword fight. The young boy idolized Butz for his sword skills, for he would go nuts every time his teacher and friend (he couldn't bring himself to call Butz his father) would come across a group of killer bees or some landturtles and cleave them in two with his BraveBlade. Right now, the forest approaching Tycoon wasn't very big, but was home to some pretty nasty creatures nonetheless.

                "I…I'm fine," Butz lied, making sure his pupil didn't see the truth. Butz knew why he was coming back here. Even though, he figured, Faris would be married to some diplomat-type from a distant kingdom, he had to see her again. The void he and his friends sealed up with Exdeath's evil soul locked in its darkness forever, but a worse one was opened up; the void of his heart. He thought of many things as they passed the crater where the meteor used to be. Every time he would pass through the forest and a gust of wind would bring to life the natural sounds of the trees and life echoing eternally through the flora and fauna, his mind would wander. He thought of Faris, how she was almost lost in the darkness but time and whatever god was in heaven rescued her. He thought of the blade in a sheath on his back, and how many a monster's blood saw the blade as it passed through them with horrifying efficiency.  The kid tugged at Butz's tunic, indicating that something he spotted caught his attention.

                "What's that, Butz?" Butz, hearing the kid's question, he twisted his gaze to the side, and saw a familiar sight. He smiled as he changed course and walked over to the tree. He ran his fingers down the sap leaking from the tree, and tasted it; its smooth viscosity and sweet flavour brought memories of the pies made by Lenna. Then, looking down, he picked a bunch of berries attached to the flowering part of the tree's root. He picked one off and threw it down to his protégé.

                "Koga," he said, referring to the kid by name, "you've seen these before! Tell me what they are."

                The kid struggled a moment and said, "Ah, I remember! These are Norak fruit!" With a pleased look on his face, Butz leaned over and ruffled Koga's hair.

                "So, you ARE learning what I'm teaching you. Tell me what these berries are used for."

                "He he, these are used for treating people that have lost their mind!" A nod from Butz indicated that the kid was right, causing Koga to clap in acceptance.

                "We're gonna stay in Tycoon for the night, Koga, and then it'll be a two days' journey to the fire shrine at Karnak." Even though the crystal was at a different, safe location now, the fire shrine at Karnak still stood firm for visitors to see the devices once used to enhance the crystals' energies. Koga, who had never been to Karnak in the year or so that he journeyed with Butz, seemed more eager to go than his mentor. Butz had his own reasons for wanting to take the kid there; he heard that since children can see spirits much better than adults, he hoped that the kid could experience the fire crystal's spirit. Personally, Butz received the spirit of wind, and it was a wonderful feeling. The powers that he gained through battle and experience, the crystal allowed him to keep in order to maintain the peace. Butz sensed that the other three adventurers he fought evil with still had their abilities too. Perhaps the crystals thought peace wouldn't last forever.

*

                The job of guarding a kingdom did not come as easy. Both of the two soldiers at the gate of Tycoon wondered how smart the queen could be to only have this duo at the door. So far, eight monsters of Tycoon forest attempted to smash the gate, only to be turned aside by the skilled swordsmanship of the kingdom's soldiers. Forest winds brushed past the guards, leaving a sense of ease as they stood watch for any creatures that would try to break the gate, or worse, climb the walls. A figure approaching from the forest with a smaller one next to it immediately caught the guards' attentions. Calmly approaching the gate, Butz, who was wearing a covering over his head to keep sap dripping from the trees (this was the time of year that the trees' sap leaked slowly from the trees and was harvested to make delicious foods) from landing on his head and sticking up his hair, walked on. Fluoo tree sap took four hours' washing to remove from one's hair.

                "Who are you, stranger?" inquired the guards. Obviously it had been so long they did not remember him, and with his head covering, his hair was cloaked. He cleared his throat to speak.

                "Don't you remember?" he told them. "I am Butz, the man who ventured with your queen and princess four years ago." They both instantly drew swords, and swung them at him in an overhead swing. Surprising both of them and startling Koga, Butz drew his BraveBlade and stopped both their swords in the shape of an X with it. Able to carry two weapons at once, he kept an admantium-plated knife at his side, ready to draw quickly if anything dastardly occurred. When the two guards pulled back their blades and attempted to slash him in two at the stomach, he rapidly moved his blade to again stop theirs in an X. Taking initiative, he pushed their swords backwards, and held his sword horizontally at both of their throats.

                "I shall not kill," he told them, "but believe me, I am who I say I am. Please let me and my disciple in." He sheathed his sword just as one of the guards pulled a lever to open the gate. Acceptably, they stood aside as the two entered the kingdom of Tycoon. A few moments after entering, the castle door opened. Two familiar figures came out of the stone structure. Butz drew a smile of remembrance on his face. He liked the way Faris looked in her royal dress, for it was not often that she wore one. As it would seem, the older sister was the one crowned Queen of Tycoon, because of her greater experience at life.

                "God, you're beautiful," Butz couldn't help but say as he approached Faris. She looked at the child beside him, and smiled.

                "So," she said of Koga, "is he your son?"

                "Not of my blood, but yes," Butz replied. "In fact, he can wield a broadsword with skill typical of an adventurer!" Seeing an open moment, Butz draped his arm around the once-pirate and pulled her close to him, kissing her lips passionately. During the kiss, his other hand ran through her violet hair, lifting both of them up and far away from everyone else, even though their feet didn't leave the ground. Slowly, he opened his eyes and took a step back after the kiss ended.

                "Oh geez," Koga flatly uttered. He stuck his tongue out. "Mushy stuff."

                "Koga!" cried Butz. "Could you please go somewhere else?! Like maybe the training room where you can get some swordplay with the soldiers?" The kid gleefully skipped away at his mentor's request, leaving Faris and Butz to enter the castle.

                "I'll have the cook fix us something," she told him. "Do you like roasted Kree?" Her question seemed needless; he loved anything of her recipes, because she knew above all else what goes into food to make it taste good. The trio of Faris, Butz and Lenna walked happily into the castle. Even though an old adventure ended years ago, the adventures of these three would live on forever. Not only because they saved the entire universe, but because they managed to meet a lot of people who were friends and struck down a good deal of enemies. Most of all, though, it would live on because Butz had, for the first time, a girl he knew he loved. If only he could set down his sword and magical Shielding outfit and stay in one place long enough to start a family, he would.

*

                "So, it's decided? Earth is our next target?" the question shot through the room of the meteor like a bullet. Each of the six present knew the plan in its entirety, and had come this far. There was no way they were going to be turned away.

                "Yes, Lord Muzef," replied Nwaa. "The Earth is the perfect place for us to go about starting our conquest of the universe. Once we spread our evil through all the beings of Earth, we shall stand unequaled by all the mightiest armies of the galaxy." Gliv did not have his fellow warriors' assuredness about the simplicity of the conquest of the Earth. Yes, the Earth was home to the four crystals that empowered most of the galaxy, but supposedly the mighty dark mage met his end at the hands of powerful beings from the blue planet.

                "Lord Muzef, your godliness," Gliv explained, "Earthen warriors introduced the powerful mage Exdeath to his demise. Are you sure we are strong enough to take out the crystals?" Muzef glared at his subordinate with contempt over such a statement. According to what he learned, there was nothing any warrior could do once the crystals of Earth were destroyed. Or, at least that's what he was always taught as a young mage. His mentor was Exdeath's brother and as such if the earthen warriors indeed destroyed the dark mage himself they would provide a challenge. Being the lord of the order of darkness, however, Muzef had utmost faith in his group's ability to destroy the earthen heroes.

                "Gliv, Warrior Mage of LeNai," Muzef said as he handed his subordinate a box given to him by his mentor, "within this box is a cane fashioned by my mentor, the brother of Exdeath. With this, no force of holiness can stand up to your might." He had, in his possession, weapons crafted from the deadliest sources, making them true weapons of annihilation. Gliv had the Ultimate Evil Staff, which could terminate any force of light very quickly. Nwaa had the diamond-tipped Stave of Pure, which could destroy anything with only the slightest bit of darkness within it. Uodi had the Bow of Dark Fire, which would ignite its victim when one of its arrows hit an evil being, and the fire could not be extinguished until the being died. Marenaf wielded the Triple S (soul stealing shuriken), which not only would automatically return to the thrower, but would imprison within it the soul of whomever was cut. Pecez wore the Titan Glove, which increased his attack and defensive strength past a thousand.

                "Men," Muzef reminded them, "what our goal must be is to gain from Earth the most powerful treasure in existence." The words from his mouth caused everyone to gasp; could it really be at Earth?

                "Sir!" cried Marenaf. "Are you certain the Staff of Omnipotent Wrath is at Earth?!" He knew what he was asking; the most powerful magic staff in the universe was not to be underestimated.

                Muzef looked at his allies with a look of undue necessity on his face. "I'm positive," he answered. "We must obtain the Staff if we are to bring Exdeath back. Once it is in our possession, we can command Exdeath to return to life!"

*

                Butz lowered his fork to the side of his dinner plate, and looked up at Faris and Lenna with a look akin to a person who had just seen a ghost. Even though they couldn't read his mind, they both knew instinctively that something had to be wrong. "Did you feel that," Butz asked, looking to his left and right for the source of it. "I just felt a cold chill, like I did when Exdeath first returned to life." Faris and Lenna could not feel the same feeling he had, but then, they felt it, only stronger, as though as shadow passed through them.

                Lenna looked up, then back at Butz. "Yeah," she apprehensively remarked. "It feels like Exdeath only…different."

                "Very much so," Faris added to her sister's statement. Just then, thanks to the power of the crystals, all three were able to peer inside the minds of the evils approaching their planet. It was only for a moment, so only one of the twisted desires popped into mind. Even so, it was enough.

                _We MUST obtain the Staff of Omnipotent Wrath,_ the thought echoed. The true meaning of the message seemed beyond most of the three, but Butz, however, suddenly gasped. Faris and Lenna, as well as Koga who came rushing into the room because he felt the same thing, saw the jaw-drop expression on their friend's face; he had to know something. 

                "You know what the Staff of Omnipotent Wrath is, don't you?" Koga's question permeated the room evenly, all present in Faris's dining room had the same thought on their minds. Butz looked up at them all, and cleared his throat.

                "If you must know," he stated, "I'll tell you. Shortly after the universe was created, God knew someday there would come a savior to forever press evil down into a state in which it cannot harm innocent people. To do so, God realized, that savior would have to have the power of God himself."

                "Thus," Faris added, "he created this Staff?"

                Butz nodded and continued, "Yes. He put his magic in the staff. An infinite usage spell that only does one thing: it can command anything to do anything." Every eyebrow lowered at the words coming from Butz's mouth.

                Lenna gulped. She uttered, "So, if they got ahold of this staff, they could command the world to blow up?!" Butz closed his eyes solemnly and nodded.

                "You know what I'm thinking?" Koga interjected. "Don'tcha think that they're gonna bring that Exdeath guy back to life?" They all turned their eyes to the child, and had the same thought on their mind: _Where the blue hell did he learn about Exdeath?!_ No matter where Koga learned of Exdeath, one fact was certain.

                "No matter if that's their plan or not," Butz announced, "we have to find the Staff before they do." Agreeing with their friend, Faris and Lenna headed towards their rooms to change into journeying clothes, and to gather their basic necessities. Koga took the initiative by leaping onto the lap of his mentor. Looking up at Butz with a smile, Koga waved his hands a bit. A greenish aura surrounded Koga, and then quickly dissipated, startling Butz a bit. The adventurer knew that this aura indicated the use of black-type magic, but remembered that he only taught Koga a bit of white magic, for he assumed Koga had only a few of the crystal spirit powers he and his friends had. Where did the child master black magic? Butz pulled a hair from his head, and examined it.

                "He he," giggled Koga. "I turned your hair orange." Butz rolled his eyes.

                "Fix it. Now," he ordered. Hastily, the kid reversed the spell. "Now, Koga, where did you learn black magic?"

                "My mommy taught it to me before she went to the other side," Koga said. A tear developed but he hastily wiped it away. Butz pulled Koga closer to him and hugged him, indicating to the boy that it was okay to remember sad memories from the past. After all, his parents died as well.

                "Butz?"  
                "Hmm? What is it?"

                "Can you be my daddy?" Butz looked at the child, not knowing what to say. When he painted a positive expression on his face, Koga's aura seemed to light up.

                "Sure I can be."

*

                Gliv looked over at his master, and saw that something was wrong. "Is something not of proper order?" inquired the sorcerer. For only a few minutes had his master been examining the Earth through his crystal ball. Muzef shook his head, then looked at his servant.

                "Normally, we'd be able to feel Exdeath's spirit, right?" Muzef stated. "I can't feel his spirit in the spirit dimension. Furthermore, I feel an energy similar to his emanating from the Earth." Uodi gasped as he approached his lord.

                "Lord Muzef!" he announced. "Are you saying Exdeath is alive?" Muzef's squint expression indicated he did not believe so.

                "No, I remember him dying. This energy is very similar to our lord's, but it's small, and…fledgling. This clearly belongs to a young person."

                "Could a kid possess Exdeath's spirit?!"

                Muzef shook his head again. "I…don't rightly know."

*

                The journey officially started. Koga belly-ached to such an extent that Butz decided to bring him along. He had his own reasons for bringing the kid along; if Koga indeed learned basic magic from his mother, perhaps his magic skill would increase as the journey went on. The plan thus far was to find the Staff, although they had no clue as to where it was located.

                "Where's our first stop, Butz?" inquired Lenna. She kept her Hiryuu spear attached to her outfit in case of attack, and still wore her genji armor outside the kingdom's gates. Butz knew where they first had to go.

                "We have to get to the ancient library," he told the group. "Cid and Mid have the airship there, and I want to read more about the Staff when we get there."

                "Butz," she entered, "I know someone who lives in the forest near the ancient library who might be able to help you with the kid's magic. His name is Lornac, and his little hut is on the way there." Butz gave a playful tap on her shoulder.

            "Great!" he exclaimed. "I'm glad you're so useful in a pinch!" The newest journey had begun, and already they had not one but two destinations. Even though they were up against unspeakable evil, and odds that just like before weren't good at all, Butz seemed excited by the prospect of fighting the bad guys. Exdeath was a despicable being that almost brought all of reality to an end, but he did one good thing; he brought this crew of four (five counting Cara whom they were hoping to meet up with on their way to the library) together. The journey would be a long one on foot, and it would take them even longer because their walking pace limited their speed.

                "I can feel the enemy approaching," Koga entered. "I think they'll be here in three days' time." As much as he hated to admit it, the kid was right. They didn't have very long to find the staff or even to prepare for the journey ahead. With the castle Tycoon fading into the distance, it would be a long trek, indeed.

                "Waiting for something?" all four adventurers looked up to the source of the voice that asked the question. To everyone's pleasant surprise, it was Cara, riding Hiryuu.  Apparently, she saw the same thing that they did. "I thought you guys might want a lift."

                Butz chuckled a bit. "You've just made our day," he stated. "You saw the evil forces approaching too?" She nodded, and brought the dragon down lower so they all could ride. From what the rest of the crew could see, the dragon was as healthy as ever, so the flight to the library wouldn't be to hard.

                "Fly, Hiryuu!" cried Cara, and the dragon took to the sky with a rush. "So, to the library?" Faris shook her head.

                "Yeah, but there's a little hut in the forest surrounding the library," she explained, "you know Lornac's place?" Cara nodded, and pointed the direction out for the dragon. The ground below them quickly seemed to shrink. Quite a bit had passed since Butz last felt the blast of wind surge by him as he rode the dragon, but nonetheless he seemed happy to go again. In only a matter of ten minutes, they were near the forest already. Thoughts of hope surged through their hearts and their minds as they stepped off the hiryuu.

                "Lornac?" cried Faris. A calm, gentle wind brushed past them, and they soon heard only the sounds of each other's footsteps and the trees rustling. Butz hastily pulled his sword from its holster, and armed himself. Shortly thereafter, the others felt it too. In their midst stood a silent warrior who'd made himself invisible using a bit of white magic. Even though his presence could not be directly seen, they instinctively could sense his every movement.


	2. Chapter Two

Lore & Legends

By Moonraker one

Chapter Two

                The warrior's presence could be felt even though he was invisible. Calmly yet cautiously examining his elusive foe, Butz moved in a circle counter to the warrior's. "I know you're there," Butz flatly stated. "Why don't you come out to attack me?"

                The warrior knew exactly how, based on his years of experience as a knight, to handle the situation. He silently flung himself in his opponent's general direction, hoping that his incredible sense of timing would gain him a quick victory. Just mere moments before his blade would have cleaved the mighty son of Dorgan in two, the hero ducked easily beneath the sword, in order to respond with a well-timed slash. The dark warrior's eyes bugged out; the BraveBlade possessed such speed that he knew of no possible way to dodge with sufficient time. To make it worse, he didn't even have time to think, so, wanting to meet the darkness calmly, he shut his eyes. A few seconds' worth of silence got the better of his curiosity. A calm gust of wind and a bit of courage brought his eyes open. If his initial analysis of the situation happened to be correct, not only was he still amongst the living, but his opponent's sword stood firm immediately against his throat.

                "Who sent you?!" demanded Butz with calm authority. The warrior gulped; one false move or even the wrong outward appearance would mean his neck would be opened from flesh to flesh. Unfortunately for him, he knew that if he said anything, what awaited him would mean a far worse fate. As it stood, he had no choice.

                "Lord Muzef sent me to kill Lornac," he stated. "You guys got here before I could." A disturbance in the wind told Butz's instincts that his current position meant danger. Reaching for his dagger while still maintaining his sword's position at the warrior's throat, he turned to the source of the trouble. The figure coming towards him moved far too quickly, and drew his blade for the death strike.

                "DIE!" he shouted. Two separate shuriken, hurled at each of the invisible warriors, connected with their necks and brought them to the ground. All of Butz's friends looked to see who saved him just in the nick of time.

                "Hello friends!" a pleasing voice called.

                Five pairs of eyes bugged out. "Gi…GILGAMESH?!"

                "Back from the Cleft of Dimension thanks to you!" the multi-armed warrior cheerfully shouted. "I'm here to help. I can't bear to think of the horror that Exdeath's former disciples will cause if they are victorious." Butz could not believe what he just heard.

                "His…disciples?!" Gilgamesh nodded in response to the question.

                "Exdeath's brother had a private gathering of the most powerful warrior mages in reality. The Order of Darkness always had the conquest of reality in mind. If they get their grip and control over the Staff, they can strike down the galaxy's mightiest heroes in a heartbeat." Sheathing their weapons, the team of now six proceeded into the forest. At the midsection of the woods, there were two pathways. Butz used his skills from years of being a wayfaring drifter/adventurer to his advantage; he knew automatically that the pathway they needed happened to be the one that was the more difficult to see. Trudging on, Faris thought of Lornac; it had been ages since she last saw him. King Tycoon, she remembered, always talked about how the nine-thousand year old immortal taught him everything he knew about life. She herself saw him only a few times, but each time he gave her a gift of knowledge. Obviously, the man understood more of the universe in his nine millennia than any member of this gathering would ever learn. One major question resonated through her mind every time she came across the skilled fighter; no mortal had ever discovered the mythical shard of the Heaven Crystal that shattered in the beginning of the Earth. Predictably, how he could have found it seemed a bit confusing. Regardless of what lie ahead danger-wise, the log hut of Lornac soon came into view.

            "Ah, journeyers," said Lornac, opening his door. "I can tell you've come seeking knowledge about the holy Staff of Omnipotent Wrath. Let the enemy have it; the could never use it anyway. What I'm worried about is if they get that far, they won't need it. They'll have enough power just in the temple that they could destroy the galaxy. To use the staff, though, you have to be a certain class."

                "What class?" inquired a confused Lenna. "I thought that four crystals only possessed so many spirits." Lornac smiled a playful grin.

                "When I was in my forties," he explained, "I was in search of treasure so I'd never have to work again. Instead, I fulfilled part of a legend; I found a shard of the Heaven Crystal."

                Faris gasped. "I heard about the Heaven crystal," she remarked.

                "Of course," he finished her sentence with, "it is widely known. God created Earth. Fearing the Humans would attempt to enhance or use the power of the Heaven crystal to attain greater consciousness, or worse, to win wars, he shattered the crystal himself. By doing so he forever made it so no one could ascend into the Eternal Kingdom short of death. As such, the shards of the crystal differentiated. Some became blissful job classes, some curses. I found the only piece that gave the Immortal job class."

                "And," entered Butz, speaking from legend. "when you mastered the Immortal class, you were to live forever and await the arrival of the next Saviour?" Lornac nodded. He held, deep down, a horrible secret. When he found the crystal, and with it the promise of eternal life and the ability to spread infinity's teachings, he tried to share his power with his wife, but the shard refused to accept her. To make matters worse, once he mastered the class he could not rid himself of it. All he could hope was that someday, a saviour could come and free him from immortality. Lornac was about to stand up to get some water, when by fate his gaze swung around to Koga. None of the others could understand why, but the warrior's calm state became incredibly nervous in a short period of time. Koga himself did not understand why his presence could frighten a skilled warrior that couldn't die.

            "Die evil!" shouted Lornac as he hurled a shuriken at the kid. Before Butz could draw his sword and turn aside the shuriken, the kid gave a shout and motioned his hand at the spinning blade. His aura gave the green flash distinct of a black magic spell, and a negative field of energy surrounded the shuriken mid-flight and forced it to dissolve. All eyes turned to a quivering Gilgamesh.

                "TH…th…that…THAT'S AN EXDEATH SPELL!" he waveringly stammered. The warriors present turned to Koga, then to the immortal. With silent contempt, Lornac shook his head.

                "Indeed."

*

                Muzef practically jumped from his seat as the surge passed through them. Almost every one of the other members of his order felt the same thing. Startled, the leader cried, "What the HELL?!" He knew what that feeling was; it was the typical energy surge of when Exdeath utilized a powerful spell quickly. Just about none of them could rightly believe what they felt.

                "Master!" shouted Gliv. "Did you feel that?!" Muzef's mouth hung open.

                "Oh…my…god…" he uttered. "Without a doubt, that's Exdeath's life force all right."

                "OUR MASTER IS ALIVE!?"

                Muzef thought a moment. "No," he carefully said, "worse. At least if he died it'd be fine. He's been reincarnated." Being a master warrior mage, he knew full well the true consequences of what he told his fellow evils. Most likely, the child would have the full power of Exdeath's dark spirit, but not his evil. He cringed to think of it, but there was an even more terrible possibility. He did not want the horrible irony of the dark mage's evil used to protect the planet they needed to destroy. Of course, if the kid hadn't fully developed his power, the odds of success improved.

                "This drastically alters our plan," noticed Uodi. Muzef closed his eyes solemnly.

                "Unfortunately."

*

                "What just happened?" asked Koga, as startled as anyone present. "Did I just make that shuriken vanish?" Lornac very delicately examined the child's thought process and psyche; it was excellent that no wicked intentions permeated the young mind. Even if there were purpose behind it, Lornac thought it extremely ironic that Butz of all people would wind up mentoring Koga.

                "It stands as I thought," stated the well-traveled warrior. "Koga in spirit and power is Exdeath Reincarnate." No other happened to be more startled and shocked than Butz. He, with the help of the other four, stood fast in the face of the evil dark mage's fury, and struck him down. Looking down at the child he journeyed with for the past year or so, he could scarcely imagine that the same being that threatened to consume everything he held dear would wind up beside him in such a different form. _God must have a daft sense of humor_, thought Butz. Lornac quickly reached in his cabinet and handed to Butz two separate crystals.

                "These two crystals I'm giving you," he explained, "are to help you on your journey. The red colored crystal will shatter illusions, and the blue one, when combined with a crystal shard, will instantly give you the experience points required to master a job class." Preparing for the journey ahead, all the six warriors present understood the circumstances. Despite the fact that the adventure ahead seemed dire and unbelievably difficult, they never experienced such a degree of hope. "I wish you all great luck in this troubling time."

                Approaching the Ancient Library, Butz had many questions. For one, he couldn't understand exactly how much of the past would act against them. Looking at the multi-armed warrior traveling with them, however, pushed one question in front of the rest. "You were the dark mage's main servant, Gilgamesh," stated Butz. "Tell me exactly how much power he truly possessed." Gilgamesh looked nervously at the cheerful child strolling next to Lenna and gulped. He then stared directly into Butz's eyes.

                "Exdeath possessed many a horrifying spell," he admonished. "One especially nasty spell I'd seen him implement is so evil that with it, a being can be made invincible at the cost of the lives of ten of their servants. You were extremely lucky the spell could not be used in Cleft." The main warrior of the bunch could easily tell that his well-experienced ally with many arms had seen his share of darkness. One question that Gilgamesh had for Butz was one all his own. "How much faith do you have in the boy?"

                Butz looked confused. "So what if he's Exdeath reincarnated," stated the warrior. "I have more faith in him than most other people I come across. If anything dangerous threatens us, we buckle down and defeat it. Besides, he can wield a sword better than most royal guards."

                The familiarity of the ancient library seemed to be the only positive aspect of the entire situation. Outside of that, knowing next to nothing about their enemies severely limited their choice of actions. The air became noticeably cooler once they got near the library. Twelve scholars stood at the door with looks on their faces that indicated they were eager to help. Up front, the scholar next to Cid carried in his grasp the book that contained in it the main mythology regarding the staff. Half the situation got explained in a series of glances between the six adventurers and the scholars.

                "We heard the vision as well," exclaimed a scholar. "I'm impressed that the old myths about the Staff of Omnipotent Wrath were true."

                Butz raised an eyebrow. "Lornac told us the enemy couldn't use it," he replied.

                "Of course," another scholar added. "The Staff legend states that only a being who has mastered the 'Saviour' job class can wield the staff. It is only the second of three remaining pieces of the Heaven Crystal; the first belongs to Lornac."

                "Even still," concluded another, "the Saviour class cannot be accessed. Many have died trying to locate it."

                Before Lenna could open the book, a hand struck her, throwing her against a bookshelf. Faris narrowly dodged a similar fist in time to use a life spell on her sister. The enemies nearby were several Demon Hounds summoned by a rather ugly looking cloaked figure. Lenna, restored, lifted her Hiryuu spear from its holster and scoped around for her target. One of the Demon Hounds looked at her and pounced. She drew a ragged breath with the tension in the air trickling off her skin; she drew back her arm and hurled the spear with all her might at the hound. His eyes widened the instant he realized he could not dodge it. Several turned to avoid the sight of a shaft of metal slicing through flesh and bone as it blasted clear through the hound's head, effectively nailing it to the wall. "Return!" she shouted, and her spear flew back to her grasp.

                Butz saw a hound fly in his direction, so he moved to his left and stomped on its back. Unable to move, the hound screeched right before a sword motion sliced its head clean off. Faris herself ducked below a pounce and drove her katana into the chest of the demon creature. The odds seemed to have changed until, with a surge of power, the hounds returned to an undamaged state. "No…No way!" cried Cara. "Those were death blows! Are they invincible?!" Koga's eyebrows lowered as he began to think.

                _Nothing can be invincible or immortal by science,_ thought the child. _Therefore, it must be magic._ Acting quickly, Koga aimed a flat hand at the cloaked figure, and cast a bolt 3 spell. The figure put up both arms in defense, but still got launched up against the wall. When the sorcerer's defenses were down, Koga revealed another surprise; he also knew dimensional/time magic. Merely with a thought and a hand signal, he banished the cloaked sorcerer to the Cleft of Dimension with an XZone spell. Not a second later, the warriors doing battle with the hounds noticed a distinct change; they no longer were invulnerable.

                "NOW!" shouted Butz, drawing back his sword. Their moving backwards triggered the hounds to leap across the room again, but Butz furiously slashed his hound into a dozen pieces in less than a second. Lenna aimed her spear carefully then let it fly, plowing straight through the creature's head. With a single, hasty motion, Faris cleaved her enemy clean in two, and eliminated the remaining with a well-timed level five doom.

                "Who was that guy?" asked a nervous Cara.

                "One of Lord Muzef's weak underlings," replied Gilgamesh. "Not one of the upper Order, just a servant."

                "Hmph," exclaimed Butz. "That would explain why the demon hounds weren't much to speak of." A much deeper thought plagued him. "Koga, how much magic are you capable of?"

                "That kid is Exdeath reincarnated," reminded a scholar. "Therefore he is capable of all types of magic. Exdeath was a master of Black, White, Blue, Dimensional, Summoning, and could even summon non-existent things which is referred to as Silver magic."

                Another scholar stood up from his seat at a nearby table and explained, "Just as your skill goes up with successful combat, the kid's will too. So, with a few more battles, he'll be almost up to his past life's power." It wasn't the fact that Koga would be able to wield Exdeath's power that made Butz nervous, that title belonged to wondering how much control the child had over such power.

                "Butz," yet another scholar entered, "you have to get the Palace of the Heaven Crystal as soon as possible. I fear that since the shard of the crystal that possesses the Saviour class isn't on Earth, the enemy may already have found it."

                "Yes, but WHERE is the palace?" Lenna handed him the book she had, immediately turned to the page that described the Palace of the Heaven Crystal. According to the legend, the palace kept itself suspended high in the sky above the Earth. From a lower level of the library came two familiar figures; Cid and Mid. By the looks on their faces, the party of six could see they were pleased with themselves.

                "Oh you'll like this," cheered Cid. "We seriously upgraded the Airship! Now, you can go even higher into the sky." Butz drew a smile on his face; it seemed that everyone they needed the help of kept coming through in the clutch. Mid plopped a paper down on the table immediately in front of the main hero. Eagerly, he picked it up and examined it, and even with his vastly limited knowledge of science, he could see that the Adamantium used to strengthen the airship's motors were a vast improvement over what they previously had.

                "Wow," Faris uttered, sneaking up behind the Earthen hero and reading the blueprint herself. "This all looks so…advanced." In her childhood, which slowly had come back to her since the defeat of Exdeath, she got taught science by all of the most widely acclaimed scientists in the kingdom of Tycoon. Although she seriously blew it off, she remembered most of the lessons she had been taught. According to what she knew already, the lift that opposed the pull of gravity drastically had gotten better, meaning fewer moments of drag.

                "This is excellent!" cried Butz. "So, you had the vision too?"

                Cid shook his head. "Nope," he admonished, "but they did and they told me all about it and I got to work right away."

                "Ahem?" reminded Mid.

                "Oh yes, and Mid helped too."

                "That's great," Butz continued. "So everyone, we go now to the Palace of the Heaven Crystal?"

                Once the heroes exited the library, Mid and his grandfather waved to them all. The six were prepared to save the universe yet again, and this time the chances seemed even less. Even still, none of them were willing to surrender in any way.

*

                "Damn," thought Muzef. "Already one of our servants has died trying to stop the progress of our mission." Although it was a bit of bad news, he still had much good news on his side. An awful secret he held that no other could comprehend. "No doubt," he continued, "those fools will go straight to the Palace of the Heaven crystal to stop us. Too bad they don't know about you, right Gliv?" Turning his chair around, he gazed at his main subordinate, noting that this member of his team was the only one that could wield the staff.

                "That's right lord Muzef," agreed the warrior mage. Gliv himself found the second of the three remaining Heaven crystal shards, and for the last hundred fifty or so years, had been working through battles to raise his ability points. Even if he didn't master the job class, he being of the saviour class would still allow him to use the ultimate weapon. "I am of the Saviour class, and that allows me to wield the supreme power of the existence."

                Muzef's evil grin reappeared as he turned to Pecez. "I know we'll be more than strong enough to kill all these earthen heroes," he stated. "But I think you should go and kill them for me, Pecez of the Titan Glove." Lifting his hands over his head, Gliv summoned a void-like portal to the Earth.

                "I won't fail you," Pecez said to his master before entering into the hole in space-time.

                "You better not."

*

                Their trek to the airship got cut short by the sudden appearance of a rip in the space-time continuum. This looked mysteriously like the void that they sealed back up after defeating Exdeath, so none of them understood why the darkness would return. When it vanished, however, they saw in front of them a powerful Uukarn warrior. Pecez happened to be the last of an extinct race of powerful warriors, each standing at least six foot eight.

                "I give you my greetings from Lord Muzef, the soon-to-be ruler of all dimensions!" he shouted, drawing back his arm.

                Butz quickly drew his Brave Blade, and leaped into the air. _Never learn, do they?_ thought Pecez as he lowered his arm. When the hero of Earth brought his sword crashing down on the forehead of the warrior, the blade got turned aside as though the flesh were solid adamantium.  Not one to quit, he drove another slash into the warrior's side, only for the same result to happen. A third assault Pecez rudely interrupted by driving his large fist straight into Butz's face, hurling him several feet to the ground. Faris hastily summoned a healing spell for Butz's wounds, namely a broken neck from the punch. The violet-haired queen of pirates still had as her main weapon Sasuke's Kitana, one of the twelve sealed weapons. Charging the evil warrior with a shout, she slashed her blade directly at his throat, only for it to be useless. A knee to her gut threatened to break her in two, yet Koga healed her with a cure 3 spell. Gilgamesh instantly knew the secret.

                "That evil scum is using the power of the Titan Glove!" shouted the multi-armed warrior. "With it, his power and defense are enhanced a thousand times!" The mighty warrior drew back his fist, and knocked them all on their backs with a single swipe of his hand. Then, driving his fist into the ground, a torrent of ripped ground blasted against the heroes, delivering serious blows as well as minor flesh wounds. From behind the rubble, a lone figure stumbled out in front of the heroes as they struggled to their feet.

                "Koga, get back!" screeched Butz as the kid stood unafraid in front of him. The kid had on his face a look of silent contempt towards the evil warrior.

                Pecez gulped slightly, and then drew back his fist again. On this time, he charged the kid. As he yelled and approached, Koga's childish frame did not flinch. He stood firm in the face of the mighty evil. When the warrior got within ten feet of the child, the young warrior threw up his arms and let out, "EXDEATH SPECIAL! I SUMMON THE DARK ESPER OF ENUO!" Not even in the space of a second, the air around everyone seemed to dim, and the rustling of the wind came together in the shape of a vortex, creating a destructive being unlike any other. When the wind slowed and stopped, in everyone's presence was the controller of the void himself. The dark wizard, who came in esper form to aid Koga, pointed his cane at the charging Pecez.

                "VOID DARKNESS FLASH!" screamed the wizard. An evil pulse of energy burst forth from the wizard's cane and surrounded the evil Pecez mid-stride. Once the Uukarn began to convulse wickedly, the void around him possessed him, effectively turning him inside-out and outside-in, right before eradicating his outer shell of magical defense. It did not kill him, it only rendered his impenetrable defense useless. As soon as the task was complete, the wizard and the darkness in the air vanished, leaving Koga lying on the ground, panting.

                "YOU FOOLS!" Pecez moaned. "YOU CAN'T HURT ME! I'VE GOT THE TITAN GLOVE!" Taking initiative, Gilgamesh clenched his weapons in his hands, and at once pounced upon the Uukarn warrior, slashing him to ribbons with one burst from each of his weapons. Not one to leave anything lying behind, he removed the glove from the warrior, and slashed it in two with his blade.

                "Koga? KOGA!" cried Butz, kneeling beside the boy he grew to love as his son, even though he wasn't. "Speak to me!" The boy kept breathing heavily, but wasn't dead.

                "That…was…" he said hesitatingly, "my…second strongest spell. Just casting it cost me all my MP and a third of my HP." Lifting the boy into his arms, Butz and his fellow adventurers headed towards the shoreline where the airship floated in the water. Aboard, he removed the sheet of cloth from his pack and laid it on the deck of the ship. While they headed towards the Palace, the kid would get a chance to rest. Gilgamesh took further initiative by placing his hand on the kid's forehead. Startled by what he saw, he approached Butz.

                "Butz," Gilgamesh explained, "when the kid did that to save us, he gained a huge amount of ability points." The hero of Earth looked at the multi-armed Gilgamesh.

                "Exactly how much?" he nervously asked.

                "I think he's already mastered Exdeath's magic."


	3. Chapter Three

Lore & Legends

By Moonraker One

NOTE: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up, mainly because I was worried about other stuff. For any of you who still would like to read, please feel free to do so.

Chapter Three

While Butz piloted the airship towards its destination at the Palace of the Heaven Crystal, Gilgamesh paced back and forth on the deck of the ship. For centuries he had served under Exdeath's rule, and here was the reincarnation of his former master. It made him laugh to think of how different the two were; Exdeath betrayed his own servants' trust on regular occasion, and yet this kid had such a pleasing demeanor. While both had the power to level a planet, only one of the two could wield it properly. Already Koga had been improving; before helping defeat Pecez, his MP level hadn't been much to speak of. Now, though, his magic point levels had gone up considerably, almost geometrically. Gilgamesh estimated that at his present level of skill, Koga could execute the Enuo esper at least four times and still have enough MP left over to heal himself to full power. Those who considered Flare to be the ultimate black spell, did not know the dark mage the way the multi-armed Gilgamesh did; the most powerful black magic spell Exdeath had (but couldn't use, for its MP requirements were so high it threatened to remove HP from the mage) possessed the power to turn a planet's magnetic field inside-out, ripping its surface to shreds. His desire to see Koga's true magical capabilities outweighed the order by Butz to let him sleep.

"Here, little one," he said, kneeling down. "Swallow a drop of this liquid and your vigor will be restored!" While the child snored—boy did he snore loudly—Gilgamesh squeezed a single drop of his magic drink into the kid's mouth. As soon as it slid down his throat, his body flowed with newfound energy, and his tiredness immediately vanished. He sat up.

"Thanks, Gilgamesh," the kid complemented. "You need something?" His question had an immediate answer from the many-armed fighter.

"I'd like to help you practice your magic," he instantly responded. One of his predominating thoughts after being betrayed by his former master that he didn't ever want to see him again, but once he saw this young fledgling exhibit the kind of power that his former master had, he became intrigued. He knew the forces of darkness were well on their power and already were almost to Earth. If there was to be a significant amount of hope involved, the child would have to properly demonstrate his main strength; the spell. So far, time, black, white, and summoning magic had been shown with expert skill. That left silver magic, a type employed by Exdeath in times of especially powerful enemies. It had been the only way that the evil wizard could control void. Due to the fact that void technically was nothingness, it could not be any other form of magic because nothingness cannot exist. Whether or not it had been the only type of silver magic put into effectiveness, was up to skill.

"What's the deal? I thought you needed to sleep." The two turned to see Faris approaching from the side. She quickly came to realize what the two were planning, and the importance of practice at such a crucial time. And, taking into account who Koga was, he would be one of the most powerful tools of the battle up ahead. The enemies had shown a bit of their strength in the form of Pecez, whose death triggered the magic-wielding "son" of Butz to come into his power—or at least a form of it. Faris knew instinctively that a true fighter could, with little or no training, pull out a last-ditch effort when their team most needed it. Also, how the child had complete confidence in his ability even though he hadn't wielded it before signaled to her that he indeed was worthy of being one of the finest. Gilgamesh happened to have the same thought about the kid, and so, he wanted to see if his wisdom could come in handy.

"I know a great place where we can train your skills, young one. Let's have Butz take us there." Koga grinned at the statement suggested by the warrior.

"Don't have to." Before the multi-armed Gilgamesh could figure out what the child meant, both he and Koga became enveloped by a void-like field of energy that blacked out all their surroundings. Once the field of energy dissipated, and the light around them returned, the air seemed to be mildly warm and damp. From the dankness in the air, Gilgamesh saw they were in the deep part of a cave with a golden stream of light permeating through a hole leading with several twists and turns up to the surface. Although he'd seen dark places before like the cave they were in now, he didn't exactly know where they were, or if they even were still on the planet Earth. Koga, however, seemed to know their exact location. "Welcome to my 'secret lair,'" he joked. The weak attempt at humor actually forced a mild grin from its intended listener, in spite of how unexpected it was. In actuality, Koga had used their precise location in the cave as a place where he could hide out from the rest of the world.

"Shall we begin, Lord Koga?" Gilgamesh's question managed a bit of chuckle from the child; apparently, weak humor was funnier than most thought.

_I think I need a better outfit than the one Butz gave me,_ thought Koga. He didn't mind the outfit—a light blue tunic with brown pants made from a beast's hide—personally made by Butz, but he figured if he was to be a true warrior, he had to have an outfit of his own. Eagerly, he thought of a solution as he searched along the rock wall for the opening he created. _Where is it? Ah! Here it is!_ The section of the rock face that he knew to be perforated enough to where he could push it open as a personal hiding slot slid open just as he always opened it. From it he pulled his drawing pad and pen; about twenty of the ninety blank pages had been adorned with drawings of things he had seen over his journey with Butz. On the last used page, he came to the object he'd been looking for. He saw the outfit for himself he had drawn. Trying to think about his magic he placed it on the rock floor and closed his eyes. "PAH-ZE-KEF!" he cried. His aura began to shudder between non-presence and the color purple, but faded before anything happened. Gilgamesh put his hand on the kid's head in reassurance.

"Try putting more of your power into the spell," he advised, "but not too much." Silver magic had never been used by Gilgamesh, but if it was magic, it indeed would be bound by the same rules. Willing to try, Koga gathered magical power from every vein in his being, and pulled it towards his hands. Closing his eyes, he aimed his fingers hastily at the paper.

"PAH-ZE-KEF!" he again cried. His aura visibly flashed a vibrant purple as a bolt of lightning shot from his fingertips and engulfed the single sheet of paper, burning it to shreds instantly. He looked with despair at the book; though it was only a partial tragedy, he still had spent many an hour on the outfit he designed to be untearable. When he went to pick up the drawing pad, curiosity turned his attention to himself, and his eyes brightened. Indeed, the bolt had burned the paper out of existence, but with it his outfit changed to what had been drawn. After having created a new outfit for himself, he examined it on his body with glee; it looked exactly as it had been drawn. A sleeveless dark red tunic that had his favorite "bent sickle" emblem on the front was the first part of it, complemented by a pair of black pants of magical fabric and a dark purple cape. It made Gilgamesh think more highly of the boy, although the well-traveled warrior couldn't explain why. The warrior of multiple arms drew up in the palm of his hand a ball of fire hastily conjured, and covered two of his blades with the fire, and swung, creating a shockwave of flame that headed towards Koga. With a open hand, and four fingers pointed in the direction of the flame attack, Koga quickly shot a wall of water that counteracted the flame wall. It took his opponent completely by surprise.

"Not bad," cheered Gilgamesh. "But let's see if you can counter THIS!" Being extremely careful to use his most powerful magic very carefully, he summoned the aura buried deep within him and brought it to the surface. Instantly, he raised his arms to the air and cried, "LEVEL TEN ELEMENTALISM!" Not a single instant later, his entire body became engulfed by a mighty wall of water that turned into ice armor for Gilgamesh. This magical armor enabled him to be immune to any type of magical element. Also, his mighty blades became shielded with a magical coat of near-indestructible ice. Koga, however, knew one of several countermeasures to it.

"That's really good!" cooed Koga, thinking quickly of a solution. He knew Gilgamesh's ultimate spell was near-unbeatable to all those who didn't have much in the field of strong magical power, but Koga estimated his own ability to be at Exdeath's, so any spell would have to be well-executed to work. Pulling in his aura from all corners of his field of energy, he drew it into his body in a way that his sparring partner had seen before from lesser fighters.

"You're using a 'Powerhouse' spell to enhance your physical strength for a hand-to-hand attack," noted Gilgamesh. "Won't do much to me." It would have been that way, had Koga's magical strength been at that of a normal person. Instead of only gaining a bit in the field of power, his power skyrocketed. His arms were the first to be empowered; his short arms bulked out like that of a giant's, with the arms themselves lengthening quite a bit. Next, his leg muscles expanded many times their normal range, lengthening the legs similarly to the arms. His chest and abdomen muscles burst forth, threatening to puff up like a balloon as his body greatly grew in size. Where before he had been a kid with size expected of seven or eight years, he now stood at least a eight-foot tall mass of muscular development. To add a further degree of amazement, his clothing expanded to accommodate the new, massive size increase. Gilgamesh knew; this wasn't a level one 'powerhouse' spell…

"How's this for a counter assault?" asked Koga, whose head remained small, despite his now-gigantic body. "This isn't your everyday powerhouse. This is my level THIRTY powerhouse!" The warrior of many arms threw himself at Koga, hoping at least to score a single blow. Unfortunately, he found himself thrust violently into the rock wall of the cave with only a slight backhand from the kid. Koga threw a giant fist at his opponent, who dodged away at the last moment. Instead of breaking a large hole in the cave wall, his large fist mysteriously traveled through the rock as though it were water, even leaving a trail of ripples behind. Turning his head, Koga saw the warrior flying towards him with blades drawn. Instinctively he reached out and caught Gilgamesh, the warrior's entire body fitting snugly within Koga's huge hand. "Do you surrender?"

"I surrender! Just put me down! It's clear you don't need training!" Setting down Gilgamesh, he let his body return to its normal size. Quite a suiting, playful smile drew itself onto Koga's face; to the multi-armed warrior, it was a starch contrast to the looks he'd seen from Exdeath, the original form of Koga's magical power. Gilgamesh couldn't help but ruffle the child's hair with his second left arm. "I'm really impressed; you really are at least as powerful as Exdeath, magic-wise, yet, you're so calm and gentle about it." He knew what he was saying; Exdeath had been a freak whose power made him drunk. This kid, however, almost considered his power to be an afterthought, more like it was a special trait other than a primary one. From what Gilgamesh could also tell, the kid had more than enough MP left over to cast at least a few thousand more spells. Koga's maximum available energy for casting spells—his MP total—could be no less than forty times that of his previous life's.

"Time to get back to the airship!" he beamed, grabbing Gilgamesh's hand and surrounding them with the same void-like teleportation spell. Once the field of darkness left, they found Faris waiting for them. From what the two of them could see, she was none too happy.

"You two snuck off?!" shrieked the violet-haired pirate lass. "You KNOW if the enemy could sense you using magic, they'd probably be here attacking us already! Errrgh! I'm gonna get something to drink to cool off; don't sneak off again!" Her level of complaining could mean only that she was not having a good time with the proper amount of soap to use when cleaning her clothes. Or, it could mean she was on her period; although Koga banked on the former. Gilgamesh folded four of his arms together.

"What's her problem?!" he said, half to Koga, half to himself. The kid, however, had a slightly different idea. Waving his hand at Faris as she walked away, his magic caused her butt to expand slightly, noticeably pushing out a bit farther against the seat of her pants. _I don't get yelled at when I don't deserve it,_ thought Koga. "I hope you reverse that spell on her."

"Oh, don't worry about it, Gilgamesh," the kid whispered. "Butz'll probably find it better than it was before."

"WHO WANTS TO DIE?!"

All eyes on the ship turned to greet the sudden appearance of a cloaked figure. Butz, piloting the ship, quickly passed control of the wheel over to Lenna, and made a circling leap over to where the cloaked figure stood. Faris, who'd hoped to get a nap in before arriving at the scene of the struggle, quietly snuck up behind the figure, hoping to catch him off guard. Gilgamesh and Cara stood on opposing sides of the man, ensuring that all bases were covered. Without wasting a moment, the figure sensed a slight decrease in guard on the part of Faris, who thought she had the evil mage where she could strike at him. He acted instantly, slashing a minor cut in her right arm with a shuriken—barely enough to draw blood, even—but nonetheless causing her to fall onto her back, unconsciously. None of the warriors of Earth could comprehend it; such a small cut could not have done such damage. Then he touched the shuriken to his chest, and from the neck down, his body became a duplicate of Faris's. With it he had her abilities added to his own, and her weapon.

"Ah, but you Earthlings are ignorant!" he cried, taking up a stance that looked like hers. "I have the triple S!"

"Marenaf, you son of a bitch!" Gilgamesh cried, arming his swords with ice and fire spells and trying to strike at the sorcerer. Unfortunately, the sorcerer had far too much speed thanks to Faris's soul, and slashed Gilgamesh in the first open spot: his chest. Applying the shuriken to his chest again, Marenaf grew four more Faris arms, mimicking Gilgamesh. Butz instantly knew what he was up against.

"Everyone!" he shouted. "Don't get cut! That's the soul-stealing shuriken!" The warriors were already ahead of him the moment that they saw two of their allies' souls get sucked into an evil sorcerer. Cara drew her weapon—the Bow of Artemis—and fired off a shot in the evil's direction. Despite a good, solid hit in the stomach, he'd lost only a small amount of life points. In response, he swung Sasuke's Kitana, Faris' weapon of choice, and nailed Cara in the upper chest, taking a significant chunk of her health away instantly with a nasty wound. Lenna, struggling with the wheel, threw a healing spell to cure Cara. Butz swung his sword, more as a distraction while he summoned a spell than a real attack, and at the same time prepared to use his strongest fire spell. Instead, a field of lightning summoned by the mage caused him to drop his blade as it lifted him off the deck of the ship. Pure energy surged through every inch of his frame as he cried out in pain.

"KENOTRA!"

The mage turned just in time to be struck in the gut by an orange-colored ball of magic flame that, as though a bowling ball were thrust in his direction at a hundred miles per hour, blasted him backward quickly. Landing flat on his back on the deck of the airship, his body returned to its normal state as Faris and Gilgamesh resumed consciousness. All turned to the source of the spell, and found Koga with index and middle index fingers extended in the direction of the mage. Koga lifted his two fingers to his mouth and blew, pretending to be blowing away smoke from a smoking gun. None of those present could speak. Sure, the mage caught them off-guard, but their strongest attacks did almost nothing on the evil presence. Koga struck him dead with a single spell.

"Koga?" Butz stammered. "Could…you mind giving us a little list of your _more powerful_ spells?! So we're not so in the dark!?"

"MOTHER…" Muzef cried, running short of breath before he could complete the swearword. Instead, he took his crystal ball, and shattered it in a single toss against the wall. Then, he summoned another just like it. "_ANOTHER_ servant! Crushed like a rat!"

"L…Lord…Muzef!" Gliv cried. "Do…do you think we still can beat the heroes of Earth?" In response, Muzef slammed his fist down on the table in front of him, and glared in contempt at his subordinate. Gliv cringed; he never liked to see his master angry at him. It typically meant trouble.

"OF COURSE WE CAN!" he angrily shouted, unnerving all of the remaining members. "They JUST got lucky!" Cursing his luck, he knew the truth; their skill had been direly underestimated by Muzef and the rest of Exdeath's protégés. This was a mistake that was no longer to be made. "We must merely come up with another plan. Apparently, one on one combat is futile. We must wait until we get there and attack them as a group."

"But sir!" Muzef turned to see which of his subordinates had the gall to challenge his order, and saw that it was Uodi.

"Something I said amiss?"

"Yes sir, I mean…" Muzef's furrowing eyebrows indicated to Uodi that his master was pissed with him, so he hastily corrected his words. "I mean, if we give them time to prepare, aren't we basically surrendering?" For a subordinate, the warrior/mage had impeccable logic, on the level of his master. The leader of the group realized that because Uodi was correct, it meant that they'd probably get stronger if given the chance. The best way to attack would be at once, but also he realized that such an action would be suicidal. Muzef threw up his hand to silence his subordinates.

"Here's our action," he ordered, "we teleport to the Palace of the Heaven Crystal, and let the meteor we're riding in now crash into the Earth. Surely, they'll predict our plan and ignore the meteor altogether."

"Then…why're we doing it?" inquired Gliv.

"Because we want to tell them that we're as smart as they are, if not smarter. Psyche them out, so to speak." Somehow, his lesser didn't think it would work to the extent he'd been told.

"…and that's about all the instant death spells I know," Koga explained, finishing his list of instant kill magic. Not a single jaw had gone undropped; apparently, Exdeath had at least two dozen spells that, when timed properly, could kill in a moment. Butz could not believe that a kid standing no taller than four and one half feet at the age of eight could possess more killing spells than half the sorcerers that were three times his age or more. "You wanna know my status-affecting spells?"

"No," Lenna entered. "I think…we've heard enough…"

At that precise moment, a gigantic meteor sailed past the airship not a hundred yards away. It made a loud rumbling noise as it burned in the atmosphere and ultimately left a huge scar in the landscape just in front of the forest near Tycoon, very close to the location of the one that had been there before. Faris and Lenna both freaked out.

"Butz!" Faris cried. "They're gonna attack Tycoon! We gotta go back and protect our village!" Butz heard and understood, but knew better.

"No," he answered, "we stay our course." In response, Faris took him by his collar and pulled him an inch from her face.

"I SAID…"

"I DON'T CARE! I THINK IT'S JUST A DISTRACTION!"

Gilgamesh attempted to be the voice of reason. "Um, I think Butz is right, Faris," he explained. "I mean, think about it. Their goal is to achieve the most powerful item in the universe. Would they really waste their time on a Human village when they can command all of reality once they get their prize?" She released her grip on Butz.

"Yeah, I see the point. Sorry, Butz."

He brushed himself off. "Don't worry 'bout it. Let's just get going."

It only took a few dozen more minutes of sailing through the sky in order to reach the palace of the Crystal of Heaven, and when their eyes locked onto the huge temple resting upon an island floating in the upper atmosphere, they couldn't believe the sight. Golden outer walls adorned with gems of every color of the rainbow appeared to be just the beginning, and they believed that inside, much greater beauty had to exist.

_Wow,_ thought Koga. _It's just as beautiful as when I last came here._


	4. Chapter Four Final Chapter

Lore & Legends

By Moonraker One

A/N: Wow, anyone still reading after all this time away from working on this story? If you are, please review!

CHAPTER FOUR - Death of a Warrior Mage

The grand front entrance to the Palace of the Heaven Crystal slowly edged open upon the physical request of Butz. The instant the door opened, the interior of the palace looked nothing like the exterior; rather, it had the appearance of the inside of a cave-like tunnel. The walls were perfectly squared off, like a palace, but it didn't look glittery enough to be the palace of the heaven crystal. _Guys,_ Butz telepathically told the other members of his team, _We have to look out for Muzef and his crew._

"Oh, but we're already here!"

A door-like wall slid out of a solid section of palace wall, separating Koga from the rest of his allies. Butz desperately pounded on the wall, but it refused to budge. Footsteps and laughter led him, unwillingly and grudgingly, away from Koga and towards something he'd hoped he hadn't: he'd led them straight into a trap. "Just face facts," Muzef said, drawing his enemies into a wide open area of the interior palace. "You predicted my actions, and fell for them anyway. I win."

"That's what _you_ think, Muzef!" Butz cried, rallying his friends into a battle he didn't have full confidence in. Cara drew back her Bow of Artemis, and fired off a rather powerful shot in Uodi's direction, just in time to prevent a rather forceful strike from Muzef from hitting Butz as he moved towards the left, past the dark leader as he dashed off into the dimly-lit hallways of the Palace. Muzef caught onto the hero's plan before the hero himself knew it completely, and turned to his main subordinate, Gliv.

"Gliv! Go find the Staff!" he commanded forcefully. "NOW!" Even though his choice of order seemed rather obvious, he now had to depend on his only remaining evil team member, Uodi. Nwaa, segmented from the team by the wall that blocked Koga from rejoining the team of which he was the strongest magic user. "It's just you and me, Uodi," he said to his servant, not taking his eyes off the three remaining heroes of Earth. "Make sure your arrows hit dead-on!"

Lenna drew her spear back, and with as much force as possible, hurled it in Muzef's direction. The dark leader reacted very quickly, not wasting a moment to freeze it in midair with his magic and send it back towards its source. Lenna caught it on the return, just barely avoiding getting impaled, and scanned the two evils for their weaknesses. Meanwhile, Muzef took opportunity to grasp Cara in a field of negative energy, and slam her against four walls in rapid succession. He then ducked beneath a katana swipe from Faris and slammed his elbow into her gut, bashing her against a far wall. Just as Faris attempted to pick herself up, an arrow from Uodi implanted itself into her arm. She pulled it out and doused it with a water spell, but the flame just wouldn't extinguish, and it began to sting.

"What is this?!" she shouted.

"Bow of Dark Fire," he said with a vicious grin. Instantly, Faris knew what it was, and the implications of it having struck her. "The arrows from this bow have a fire spell on them that prevents the fire from going out until the being is dead." Faris didn't like the way the flame was beginning to seriously hurt. She pulled out a few of her healing items and used them to increase her life points, but knew that it was inevitable that the fire would consume her entirely. Uodi took aim and fired off an arrow at Cara, just missing her by a hair's breadth.

* * *

Butz dashed down the hallways, the sound of Gliv's slightly heavy footsteps echoing a few yards behind him. He ran, not taking time to catch his breath until he came to a two-way fork in the path. He saw one way, and then the other, with no visible difference between the two. He had to instantly decide, and he decided upon the left path. He ran, not hearing that his follower took the opposing path. Butz just hoped he'd chosen correctly. The hallways began to change, the walls taking on a more rock-like appearance. After a short way's run, even the perfectly flat walls changed into a complete cave-like appearance. The light faded quickly thereafter, and the only light he could see was up in the distance, a quiver of light against the all-consuming darkness around it, trembling at the light's edge as though the light were poisonous to the dark.

Gliv had been around for centuries, and never had seen anything like this before. Although his hallway had to be exactly the same as his enemy's, he saw a lot of things different. He began to see crystal fragments littering the floor; useless fragments. He knew this because only three fragments of the heaven crystal had any purpose. Different than the elemental crystals, the heaven crystal is useful only near the tip of it. He also saw creatures sitting on the floor in strike mode—creatures that did not attack him. They did not strike because he was currently in the Saviour job class. Such a job class cannot be mastered by mortals, for it would require an eternity's worth of experience. Finally, after running for at least five minutes, he slowed to a walk as he entered a grand room, one like the crystal chambers in the other palaces. The center platform, which had a short staircase leading up to it, had a stand for a crystal like the other palaces did, but there was no crystal. All he noticed was, in the very back, a glass case with a staff in it protected by a magical field. A grand smile painted itself on his face—his task was done.

As Butz approached the source of the light, he felt shadows nearing him in the darkness. Probably because of the mere reason that he was one of the four warriors of light, they stayed their distance from him. He reached into a small jeweled box, and lifted from it a single shard of crystal. The crystal shard seemed cracked and useless—until Butz had an idea. _Wait a minute,_ he thought. He reached into his pack and pulled from it a single red crystal shard; the one given to him by Lornac to shatter illusions. Replacing the cracked shard into its jewel case, he lifted the red shard high above his head.

"CRYSTAL POWER! ILLUSIONARY SHATTERING!" he shouted. The moment the crystal blinked a vibrant red and then disappeared, all of the darkness faded like dust into an exhaust vent. The shadows were revealed for who they really were: the protectors of the ultimate crystal shard. One by one, with the darkness gone, they surged towards him. One almost connected with him, but he swung and slashed it in two just in time. Quickly he reached at his side with his other hand and pulled the adamantium knife from his pocket and jabbed it into the heart of the next shadow, and began parrying the shadows with his sword and knife. Finally, he'd slain them all, and put both weapons back into their sheaths.

_Very good_, a deep voice called. _you have passed our test, and are worthy of the final crystal shard, Butz, great warrior of light._

Gliv reached into the jewel box—being of the Saviour class, one special ability was to be unaffected by force fields—and pulled from it the one ultimate weapon, the Staff of Omnipotent Wrath. A golden gem stood at the tip, tightly held by the rest of the staff; it was more glorious than he could have imagined, with a golden shaft studded with small gems of every color. A very large, powerful looking creature stood behind him; ostensibly, it was the guardian of the staff. He merely pointed the staff at it and commanded, "Creature, die!" a wondrously destructive purple beam shot from the staff's tip and all at once reduced the creature to dust. He stared in astonishment at the power of the weapon only he could wield, and all at once dashed off to tell Muzef of the glorious news.

Butz put his hand into the jewel box again, only this time the crystal shard looked gloriously restored. It shimmered in his hand; this had to be the absolute tip of the former heaven crystal. He attempted to summon its power to change his job class into the one stored within the shard, but the shard refused to allow it. _You cannot use this job class until you master it,_ a voice said inside his head. That made no sense to him; how could one master a job class unless they got experience by means of using it in battle? It hit him like a ton of bricks; he quickly sat his pack on the ground and began rifling madly through it.

* * *

The gathered heroes of Earth fought against Muzef and Uodi, each one striking blows as necessary to still dodge in time. Miraculously, no one save for Faris had been hit with Uodi's deadly arrows, although the female pirate's wound burned with a brighter fire now, and it really began to hurt. A thin bolt of lightning shot from the hallway behind the warriors and struck Uodi, annihilating him immediately. After his body turned to ash, the fire on Faris's wound went out, leaving her to heal it and continue to press the battle. Muzef was now alone, and he turned to the source of the attack. What he saw caused his jaw to drop.

"NWAA?!" he shrieked. "WHY would you betray me?!" His former servant stood fast. "After all," he continued, "you were one of my most powerful! Do you hear me, man-servant?" To this statement Nwaa sent a bolt of power to the floor just in front of Muzef's feet, and then pointed the stave back at his former master's face.

"You always did force me to act and dress like a man," Nwaa protested, pulling off the baggy robe that covered the battle vest worn underneath. "Well, no more! I am a woman and you cannot take that away from me!" The others, especially Faris who'd gone through a similar experience with gender hiding, seemed amazed that they didn't see her feminine figure before through a thick robe. She was beautiful, with green hair and pale white skin giving her an other-worldly appearance. She prepared to strike a death blow at him, when a figure dashed into the room.

"Lord Muzef! Lord Muzef! I found the sta…" Gliv stopped dead in his tracks and sneered when he saw Nwaa with her Stave of Pure pointed at his lord and master. "Well well, if the bitch hasn't finally gotten some guts about her; I'll be darned."

"Gliv!" Muzef commanded, fearful for his life. "Destroy the woman! Immediately!"

"Okay," Gliv said, pointing the staff at her. At the last minute, though, he changed its trajectory and pointed the staff at Muzef himself.

"What…?!" the dark leader barely had time to utter.

"Die!" Gliv shouted, and the familiar purple death beam shot from the staff and incinerated Muzef in a moment. He stared at the charred remains of his former master. "Hmph," he snorted. "That's for my family, whom you slaughtered. NOW then," he regarded Nwaa and the heroes standing behind her. Lifting the staff above his head, he uttered, "I command the staff to kill all those standing behind Nwaa first, then her."

* * *

Butz frantically rifled through his pack until at last, he found his target. Lifting the blue crystal shard high above his head, he smiled. This shard, also a gift from Lornac, allowed any job class immediately to be mastered. Taking the golden crystal shard in his right hand, and the blue shard in his left, he closed his eyes and, taking a deep breath, brought the two together. The two shards combined with a burst of light, at first doing nothing. A second later, though, the shard shot a bolt of electricity straight through every inch of Butz's frame. "AAARRGGGHHHH!" he screeched as he became a living lightning rod for a moment. The force of it actually lifted him above the ground for a minute, and let him go a second later. He stood up, and found out that he could now see everything in his sight with a clarity he'd never before experienced. He could zoom in as though his vision were a camera with impossible zoom capabilities, never once did his vision blur on any distant object. He looked around as he stood confused; what had just happened? He knew that he'd returned to normal—as one did whenever they mastered a job class—but he searched his mind for extra abilities gained since the mastering of the job class contained within the shard, and found only three, as opposed to the five or six he got with the other job classes.

The first one became apparent when he attempted to figure out what was going on with his friends, and a mental picture immediately was painted. A broad grin came as he realized the truth behind the job class; he had mastered, by means of the blue shard, the ultimate job class. He was above Immortal, above Saviour, even.

He was a god.

He quickly snapped out of his amazement and prepared to assist his friends in their predicament.

* * *

"I hope you're ready for the void!"Gliv raised his staff high andpointed its tiptowards his opponents. "DIE!"

Out of nowhere, Butz materialized in front of the purple beam of death. The blast struck him full on, with no time for him to dodge. Gliv sneered and Butz's friends shrieked out of terror as the purple light engulfed him. A second later, the beam seemed to dissolve into nothingness and the hero from Earth stood unaffected. Unfazed, Gliv lifted the staff again and pointed it at the hero with a command to kill. Once again, however, the beam did not affect Butz. Earth's hero stepped towards his foe, taking the staff from him with one clean swipe. As the enemy went to announce his surrender, Butz lifted his hand and pointed one finger at the dark warrior.

"Doom," he merely replied, the force of death overtaking Gliv all at once. His body dissolved in the typical purple mist as he instantly was erased from being. Butz looked at the staff in his hand. He smiled and placed it into his pack. Regarding his friends—and the newly befriended warrior female, Nwaa—he smiled and approached them. "Let us all join hands in a circle for a moment," he requested, knowing it was the only way to share the job class with everyone. One by one, every member of the team took hands with him, with the exceptions of Gilgamesh and Nwaa.

Lenna saw the two staying out of it by being in the back. "Gilgamesh? Nwaa? What's wrong?"

Nwaa shook her head. "Forgive me," she explained, "but I am unworthy. I have, for centuries, lived with the knowledge that I allowed Muzef to annihilate my entire home planet's surface, killing all of my people. I put up only a moment's fight, for it was all I was powerful enough to do. You see, 'Nwaa' is not my name, it is the title given to the most powerful warrior mage of my planet. I am Ethiala, Nwaa of the Nekorian people."

Butz would not be deterred. "Take my hand, and you can return home and restore your people from the dead," he offered. She shed a tear as she accepted his wholehearted offer. Never before had she experienced such selflessness. Gilgamesh, however, seemed to be noticeably upset about his situation.

"Gilgamesh?" Faris inquired. "What's up with you right now?"

He scratched his head with one of his left arms. "I was the pride of the mighty Milylian race of many-armed warriors, until I sided with Exdeath. I _allowed_ him to destroy my people by not being powerful enough to stop him! I deserve to die!"

Butz motioned for him to come over. "C'mon, Gilgamesh. You can't blame yourself forever, and besides, Exdeath is dead."

But the warrior shook his head. "No; I couldn't bear to hear their cries again, as they begged me to stand up to Exdeath. No, I have to face them when I die. I don't want to see their faces again in the living world and know that I caused their deaths."

"Gilgamesh…"

"NO."

Butz shrugged. "Okay, then…I'll just allow you to grow old and die. Getting frail and gray…"

Gilgamesh quickly snatched up one of the spare pairs of hands. Butz knew his one weakness: the prospect of dying. Butz concentrated, sharing the crystal's energy equally amongst all present. One by one, their spirits were accepted and the power was given to them each.

* * *

The morning saw a calm mist upon the surface of the ocean's water. As the old man turned to his class, the class he'd taught for a while now, he pointed out to them the various aspects of the sea. The children ooed and awed as they watched the sea creatures swimming and playing with each other. He sat down at the shoreline and invited them to sit near the water's edge, where they each watched a unique aspect of the ocean. One of the kids grabbed the teacher's shirt and began to tug to get his attention.

"John? What is it?" the old man asked. He and most of the other kids gasped when they saw a legendary figure walking towards them. Her long, violet hair swayed back and forth in the mist as she calmly strode upon the water's surface, unhindered by the waves. "Oh my…! We're being graced by the presence of Lady Faris!" They bowed their heads.

"No, by all means, continue enjoying the sight of the ocean!" she offered. "After all, I wouldn't have it any other way." It made her happy that such young children were enjoying the sea. Shortly after accepting Butz's offer to become holy, she decided that, with her newfound abilities, she'd become the goddess of the sea. She tended to ship crashes and other disasters at sea, and made sure the ocean was a place for people to be happy and get their shipping chores done safely. It made her happy to watch over the travelers crossing the waters of Earth, and to avert severe tragedies. As important as some of her tasks were, nothing made her more proud than people like these who just sat and watched.

* * *

It indeed was a busy morning in the kingdom of Tycoon, where countless citizens went about their business, and personal matters. Lenna had agreed to become queen when her sister Faris refused the honor, and the chancellor simply couldn't believe the economical growth that the kingdom had experienced shortly thereafter. Tycoon's residential area had to expand to meet an influx of tourists. Unbeknownst to him, Lenna made sure that all kingdoms enjoyed the fruits of peace and disasters came rarely and without severe cost of life. She was the goddess of the population, making sure that all people could go about accomplishing their own goals, and that no slavery or mass murder would ever take place. She enjoyed the mere task of talking to people and inviting them to do the same.

"How're you doing, Lady Lenna?" some of the citizens would call to her as she'd walk by.

"I'm fine," she'd offer them in response.

* * *

A group of no less than ten people roamed through the large forest north of Karnak. A brown-haired journeyer showed them the various flora and fauna and explained the practical purposes to them. Most of the people on this particular adventure were trainees, people who wanted to know the things you need to know when going on a long journey. Some of them, the ones that knew he was directly responsible for helping in the defeat of Exdeath those years ago, did it to study more complicated aspects of battle under him. In fact, several kingdoms had hired him to train their soldiers in the complex art of swordplay. Right now, he was explaining useful aspects of trees.

"This," Butz explained, lifting a leaf, "is a leaf from the Kuzruu tree. The Fluoo tree's sap is used to make pies and other foods, and its leaves are used to make drinks that make one more awake. Kuzruu trees' sap is used to make sealant and glue, and sometimes, explosives." The group examined the sticky substance running down the side of the tree. Somehow, they couldn't picture the slimy, purple sap exploding, or catching fire, even. "The explosive quality of Kuzruu tree sap requires wet clay, which can be found in abundance in the caves around the edges of this forest. You mix one part wet clay with three parts sap, and let the mixture dry into a hard, pink brick, and you have a hand-made bomb, perfect for opening passages. I suggest using several tied-together blades of grass as a fuse instead of lighting it directly." This brought on a collective round of laughter from everyone. "But, if you don't need a full-on explosion, use two parts clay instead and you'll create a smoke bomb, perfect for clouding up a passageway to escape from enemies."

"Excuse me, Butz?" one person asked. "What if you use four parts sap?"

"You have fireworks," he answered. "It becomes a brick that shoots off into the sky and makes a brilliant flash, alerting anyone within a mile's seeing distance of your presence. Perfect for if you're stranded and there's a search party coming."

"And of the leaves of this tree?" a girl inquired.

"It can be boiled and the resulting liquid can be poured onto any puncture wound, for it has wonderful antibacterial and antiviral qualities," Butz explained, "or, if you're one for rest after a hard day of work, it is far more potent at relaxing a person than tobacco when smoked and has none of the harmful side effects." Again, a bit of laughter came about.

"Wow," a second person stated. "It seems like everything in this forest has a practical use!"

Butz grinned. "You'd be amazed what nature can be used for."

* * *

Cara had no particular task she decided to assume, and this was also the case for Gilgamesh and Nwaa. The latter two merely decided to watch over their people after restoring them. They kept in touch and were very good friends with each other, despite the original differences. Indeed, as everyone else had a particular task, they decided to keep at an easy life.

* * *

Koga stared into the inky blackness of the portal. Electricity shot off the edges of the black, spherical opening between this dimension of reality and the Cleft of Dimension. He'd known all along what it meant to be in this corner of reality, the Cleft. He knew the horrid monsters that lurked within. However, there was one thing that plagued him more than any thing else. It bothered him ever since Muzef's defeat.

_I KNOW it is locked away here,_ Koga thought. A grin—almost a sneer—formed on his face. _It IS here. I am certain of it. I shall do what my previous self could not. Exdeath was a moron; he did not even realize the truth about what it was. That is why I will succeed where he failed miserably. That is why it is I who will become the first to bend its awful power to my will. I will do that because I AM better than he was._

With the same sneer-like grin, he stepped into the black portal, and into the darkest corner of being, the Cleft of Dimension.

_I WILL master the power of void,_ he thought. _And I WILL make it obey me._

Fin


End file.
